The The New Yorker

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, my name’s Christy and I’m calling from Philadelphia.

Hey, Christy, welcome.

Hi, Christy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I was hoping that you all might be able to settle an ongoing debate I’ve been having with my boyfriend.

The stakes are low.

I maybe have a long-term plan of just low-key playing this episode in a space that we’re sharing so that the debate can be settled without actually instigating a conversation about it.

So we’ll see.

Like in a locked car.

That’s the most passive-aggressive thing I’ve ever heard.

I know, but it’s not even so much passive-aggressive as it is.

It’s a long-term discussion that’s been unsettled or has remained unsettled in very unsatisfactory ways.

So maybe more like while we’re having coffee, something a little more gentle than a locked car.

So you’ve got to debate with your boyfriend.

There’s not much on the line here, but what are you going to do if it doesn’t go your way?

Oh, I will just be pitiful, I guess.

Okay.

All right, let’s hear it.

What’s the debate?

So we are both subscribers to The New Yorker, and we read it every week. I’m a little behind since I’m a teacher. And we’ve had this ongoing discussion about what you call the proper name of the magazine.

So he has made this argument, and I do suspect that there is a little bit here about me being an English teacher and him wanting to be right and giving me a hard time.

But he likes to argue that we should maintain the integrity of the full title, The New Yorker, in all circumstances.

So did your copy of The New Yorker arrive?

And it makes me crazy because I can’t imagine it’s right.

And in my brain, I automatically move into MLA format.

So I see it typed out on the page where you would merge the New Yorker altogether based on the context of the sentence.

There would be no need for the double the.

So can you help us out?

What does he say again?

Say it.

Has your copy of the New Yorker arrived yet?

So he’s saying the New Yorker.

Because, and his argument is that the proper name of the magazine itself has the article the.

So it must remain intact.

Right.

T-H-E.

I would say one the, right?

Right.

Has your copy of The New Yorker arrived yet?

And that sounds natural.

Mm—

So we’re talking about spoken language versus written.

I think we’re talking about it in a both-and kind of way.

What evidence have you brought to bear on your side, or has he brought to bear on his side?

Just opinions?

Yeah, no one has really brought great evidence to the table, more just stubborn beliefs.

Okay.

I’ve got some evidence for you.

Okay.

And you’re not going to like it.

No!

Well, let’s hear it.

All right.

Carolyn Corman has been a contributor to The New Yorker since 2012.

That, Christy, is from The New Yorker itself, from the staff page of Ms. Corman.

So that’s the style, apparently, of The New Yorker.

Carolyn Corman has been a contributor to The New Yorker since 2012.

And here’s another one for you.

Here she is featured in this week’s edition of The New Yorker Magazine’s Poetry Podcast.

And that one’s from the A Way with Words newsletter.

No!

So the proper way to do it is to include the article and the article in the title.

And I’ve got more if you want them, but I thought those two were.

No, I think that’s sufficient.

Oh, but Christy, I have to say, I would never say, where is my copy of The New Yorker?

I would never say it either.

I would never.

Right.

In spoken language, I just, that would be weird.

Yeah, I think it is a written versus spoken divide.

It’s fine to read it and see it in print, but to say it sounds ridiculous, and I would

Mock whoever said it relentlessly, continuously for a very long time.

Right.

So it sounds like a situation where we’re both right.

I think the strategy of mocking him relentlessly should continue into and through marriage.

How should that happen?

Okay.

Noted.

And I think you should get like mocking t-shirts with it in quotes.

Yeah.

Just like really commit, go really hard.

Oh yeah.

Like a trophy with it engraved.

Perfect.

Perfect.

I like all of these suggestions.

But yeah, I think it really is a written spoken device.

Spoken, it sounds ridiculous.

It sounds unnatural.

And the spoken language is so much more fluid and doesn’t have to be rule-bound in the way that written language.

Written language is far stricter.

Far stricter.

It has these restraints, you know, where it does go through this strict editorial process

And doesn’t have to really ring to the ear quite the way that spoken language does.

Right.

That makes sense.

And just tell them the first the is silent.

The first the is silent.

I like that approach, yes.

All right, Christy, now your job is to video his response or have him send his tirade directly to us or CC it to us.

Will do.

Will do.

I’ll keep you posted.

Yes, please.

Take care of yourself, all right?

Perfect.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

If there’s a dispute about a word or phrase in your household, we can help you out.

Give us a call, 877-929-9673, or send it to us in email.

The address is words@waywordradio.org.